Berlin

Arriving in to Berlin Tegel Airport the TXL Airport Express bus can take the traveller directly to Alexander Platz. Not only is it a really cheap way to get in to the City, just €2.40 each, but you get to see some of the cities sights on the way.

From Alexanderplatz it was a short walk to the Amano Hotel, our base for our short Berlin break. The Amano Hotel is located in what was once East Berlin, nestled away in the quiet Jewish Quarter, now transformed in to an art gallery haven, nicknamed “gallery-mile“.  The immediate area was quiet and well located, giving easy walking access to U-Bahn, S-Bahn and bus connections.

Checked in and unpacked in our cosy modern room, we strolled through the gallery littered streets, crossed the River Spree heading for the Bundestag to enjoy a visit to the dome of the Reichstag. Admission is free. But you do need to book your tickets in advance on-line to avoid queues and the high possibility that you might not get in. Three working days notice are required as are your party details and their passport details for the security checks. Be sure to take your ticket AND your passport on the day to get in and pass through security. Once inside, enjoy the free audio guide in lots of languages. Arriving in Berlin late, we had booked an after dark time slot, giving us great vistas of Berlin lit up.  The Berlin Pavilion restaurant across the street serves reasonably priced food and drink if you arrive too early to get in to the Bundestag, they have clean toilets for 50 cents too.

The Brandenburg Gate was a short walk right around the corner. Nicely lit up at night, but surrounded by a lot of tourist tat.

Walking back along the Spree to the hotel we stopped for refreshments in the Berlin Friedrichstrasse S-Bahn station that offered a good selection of shops and food vendors to meet most hungry visitors needs. Our journey continued along the River Spree scoffing  warm sugary pretzels from Wiener Feinbacker.

Amano hotel breakfasts are €15 each, we decided instead to seek something cheaper en route to the city centre and after a false start in very trendy art cafe, Milch, where we were told curtly to wait for five minutes and then promptly ignored while several regulars  were served instead. Miffed, we took a short stroll further along Auguststrasse and found where the Fruhstuck was simple, tasty, staff really friendly, warm and very welcoming. Coming in at a shade under €5 each we filled our empty tummys!

 

From Alexander Platz we took the U-Bahn out to the Olympic Stadium, Olympiastadion. Massively historic pre-war stadium, remembered mostly for the propaganda images of Hitler during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Mostly in its original form now topped off with a new roof and some fancy modern seating, it is now home to Hertha Football Club. Travelling out under our own steam using the train, we shared our stadium experience with just a handful of other visitors.

Returning via U-Bahn to Potsdammer Platz we walked a few blocks to The Topography of Terrors, a museum to the horrors of Nazi Germany. This was the home to the Secret Police and the SS, combined with a large chunk of the old wall and original basement torture rooms, it was pretty chilling viewing. Exhibits involved a lot of reading which was a little heavy, but equally interesting.

Just a short stroll along the road was the site of Checkpoint Charlie, now just a tourist trap. Interesting to see how the original wall was marked out by a double row of bricks and showed how it wound it’s way through the city. Showers and a sudden chilly breeze forced an afternoon siesta to recuperate. Returing to Potsdammer Platz we enjoyed the SONY Center beneath the umbrella like circus tent structure before finding our way to the home of Berlin Chocolate, RITTER. Bargains galore !!! Bars of Ritter Sport, nearly £2 in the UK were a trifling €0.70. Custom built RITTER bars could also be constructed from a variety of chocolate and ingredients. Back along Freidrichestrasse enjoying the assortment of shops, mostly of which were the high end variety, before taking in a night-time visit to the Holocaust Memorial, a collection of 2,711 concrete blocks, or Stelae. Some short. Some tall. All, grey and silently powerful.

Meandering back to Potsdammer Platz to find a venue to eat, we bumped in to some more chunks of graffitied wall, before failing to find any decent hostelry to dine in. Eating out in Berlin you either find a restaurant that’s way too busy to find a seat, or preparing to pull the shutters down and closing up early, with the majority falling in to the latter category and shutting up around 8:00pm. Hungry and thwarted we rode the U-Bahn back to Alexanderplatz and ended up buying rolls, cheese, salad and yoghurt from a Chinese Mini-Market across from the hotel before dining in our room.

With rented bikes from the hotel, Fruhstuck was again enjoyed in the Confiserie Reichert,

before peddling our way back along the River Spree towards the Reichstag, stopping briefly at the riverside Weisse Kreuze memorial to people who had attempted, and failed, to breech the Berlin wall before entering in to the Tiergarten Park heading towards the Kaiser-Wilhelm cathedral on the opposite side.  Pausing en route at a rather unique bell tower, the Carillon, and a memorial, the Victory Column, in the middle of a busy roundabout giving great views along the Strasse 17th June to Brandenburg Gate.

The Kaiser-Wilhelm Cathedral was breathtaking. The simple hexagonal shape with blue glass walls was stunning. The brilliant autumnal sunshine flooded through the windows bathing the golden crucified Christ in brilliant blue light.

Cycling back through the park we paused briefly for afternoon tea in the Englisher Garten Teehaus. Great black cherry waffle, Apfel Strudel with a pot of tea was enjoyed. Very peaceful. Good service and reasonable prices too.

Fully refuelled, we traversed the park once again, enjoying a host of sculptures and memorials on the way, returning for a daylight visit to the Holocaust Memorial. Polite guidelines on how to enjoy the memorial are posted all around the site, but the majority of visitors failed to heed, or just plain ignored these polite guidelines, choosing to climb the blocks, run around them, jump across them and generally show what I felt to be gross disrespect.

Humboldts Box was next involving a cycle along Unter Linden, which despite being very busy, was easily negotiable with care amidst the massive building work that is going on throughout the city. Humboldts Box, an unusually shaped building which appears to be just an advert for the new building going up alongside it, is stuffed with an odd and slightly bizarre collection of exhibits,  €2 was a just price to enjoy the viewing platform at the top of the box, giving nice views across the city.

After all the cycling we fancied a small bite to eat, choosing purely for convenience as it was practically alongside the hotel, Luigi Zuckermanns Deli, where a great coffee, mint tea and a bagel and cream cheese was enjoyed.

Our days in Berlin had been arranged around us enjoying an evening of Jive dancing at the 100 year old Clarchens Ballroom. Being avid dancers and with our hotel being 10 minutes up Augustrasse, it was to be a highlight of our Berlin trip. Sadly though, arriving at the venue, for dinner as well as to dance, we were greeted by a sign forbidding the wearing of jeans and trainers. Both of us wearing jeans with me also sporting my jive trainers, we couldn’t go in. Mrs Y did have a pair of ‘non-jeans’ with her and could’ve changed, but me, well,  I had only packed jeans in my suitcase and therefore our evening of dance ended right there in the foyer. Beware dancers, if you are planning a visit to Clarchens, DON’T wear your jeans and trainers!

Looking for food and once again finding venues closed, closing or packed out, we ended up in the Route 66 American Diner. Exceptionally busy, very noisy and with service that was the slowest we’ve ever witnessed anywhere, the food was lacklustre and poorly presented. All in all, a very disappointing last night in Berlin.

Taking a long dejected cycle back to the hotel we bumped in to a Coffee Fellows coffee shop across from Alexanderplatz, hosted by two tattooed guys that looked as rough as could be. Fancying one last coffee we entered the store to be greeted by the friendliest baristas you could possibly wish to meet. Polite. Witty. Friendly. Great, great service. Managing to sell us not only a great coffee, but also cakes as well!!! Highly recommended.

With an early departure from the hotel we took the TXL Airport Express back to Tegel Airport where a frosty and overly officious check-in clerk made us queue at the check-in. Once our bags had been dropped, we made haste to the business lounge for breakfast where for a brief while, we were the first occupants. What a treat.